GOLF:SHANE LOWRY found the light at the end of the tunnel yesterday. In the darkest days of winter, when he couldn't hold, never mind swing, a club as he recuperated from a fracture to the scaphoid bone in his wrist, the Offaly man clung to he hope that fate would work in his favour.
Now, he knows: self-belief is all-important.
“We spoke about the injury, the people around me, we said it could be a blessing in disguise,” said Lowry of the fracture that came as a result of a fall on ice and which kept him out of action until the Sicilian Open in mid-March. Now, in the meat of the season, he is fresh, fit and strong.
In producing a scintillating finish to his final round here – a glittering sequence of birdie-birdie-eagle to close out – Lowry recorded a 67 for 282, two under par, that catapulted him up 19 positions to tied-fourth and gave him the biggest payday (€191,100)of his professional career.
“That’s definitely my card kept,” acknowledged Lowry as he ticked one must-do box.
But his sights are set on greater things, with many more boxes left to tick this season and into the future.
In recognising this as “the best week of my career so far”, Lowry, who famously won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, said: “This is probably the best I’ve played all year. I’d dropped a long way down the world rankings (to 223rd before Wentworth) and, no disrespect to the fellas I (usually) play with, but I feel I can be with guys like Rory (McIlroy) and Edoardo (Molinari). I’m not going to say I can be as good as Rory, because he is top-10 in the world, but when I am on my game, I can compete.
“I just need to get more consistent. I honestly don’t think that a win is too far away, or to be in contention for a win. I am contending every week now, which is great.
“When I’m going out playing a tournament, I’m not thinking about the cut, although I just made it this week, but thinking that you’re good enough to challenge (for a win),” he added.
Indeed, Lowry played fabulous golf yesterday to leapfrog up the leaderboard with a closing salvo that was better than anyone’s.
He rolled in a six-footer for birdie on the 16th, a 10-footer for another on the 17th and, then, came the piece de resistance on the long 18th that has contrived to torment so many players.
Using a Cleveland three-wood that was only placed in his bag at the start of the week, a club a degree-and-a-half stronger than his original, Lowry found the middle of the fairway off the tee. Then, with 247 yards to the pin, he knew the same club would be ideal.
The idea of laying-up was taken out of the equation, on the basis that he would still have a difficult approach pitch, so he made a wonderfully effortless swing with the fairway metal and watched as it hit the green and then nudged off the collar to finish 12 feet from the flag. As soon as he stroked the putt, he knew it was in.
Lowry takes another step in his progression today when he competes in the US Open international qualifying at Walton Heath, where he hopes to take the momentum from Wentworth with him.
“I’d love to play Congressional. That’s where I want to be playing, to be competing in fields like this every week. There is something about me, I prefer playing in the bigger tournaments. I feel as if I can compete in them.”
In shooting a lower 36-hole score over the weekend here, when the going got tough, he has proven he has the game – and the temperament – for the big time.
